Singapore, Sep 1, 2010: Decision Resources, a research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues finds that, through 2019, an expanding aging population and increases in diagnosis and drug treatment will fuel steady 4.6 percent annual growth in the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) drug market.

The Pharmacor 2010 (Decision Resources' flagship advisory service) findings from the topic entitled Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease reveal that the COPD drug market, which totaled nearly $8.4 billion in 2009, will reach more than $13 billion in 2019 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and Japan. The findings also reveal that the drug-treated COPD population will increase by nearly 6 million patients over the next decade. Although two maintenance therapies currently dominate the COPD market—GlaxoSmithKline's Advair/Seretide/Adoair and Boehringer Ingelheim/Pfizer's Spiriva—the near-term market will become fractured owing to the launch of new agents and generic erosion of key brands.

The Pharmacor 2010 findings also reveal that the makers of lower-priced branded generics will capitalize on the loss of market exclusivity of Advair/Seretide/Adoair and Spiriva in the United States and Europe, and generic versions of these drugs will become available in Europe by 2019.

"Challenging regulatory environments, uncertain pricing and reimbursement restrictions and the loss of patent protection and/or market exclusivity for many top-selling COPD products will constrain the COPD market," said Decision Resources Analyst Dr Benjamin Guikema. "However, manufacturers of generic products will face great barriers to entering the COPD market, given the lack of clear regulatory pathways and the difficulty of creating a device that is acceptable to regulators, physicians and patients."

The findings also reveal that the launch of fixed-dose combination inhalers containing a long-acting beta2 agonist (LABA) and a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) will offer more potent bronchodilation than currently available treatments.